Looks like almost all top Cresselia run some Calm Mind set. Surprisingly, Sub-CM is EXTREMELY unpopular (enough that Sub only makes it into the "other" column). About 10% of Cress' are screeners.

As for Durant, no surprise: they all basically run the same set: Hone Claws, X-Scissor, Iron head, Superpower/Stone Edge.

Now onto the metagame analysis breakdown. For those unfamiliar with my stalliness metric, read here, here and here: the basic idea is that the higher the stall score, the more "stally" and less offensive the team is. If you look at the full stats, the distribution looks pretty bell curve-like. But I think it's REALLY cool how when you look at the top-45 stats, you see peaks! This probably has to do with the fact that we're seeing single teams pop up over and over again (I'm personally responsible for the peak at +2.14), but still! It shows exactly which playstyles are the most successful: comparing with the full-metagame distribution, it looks like full stall is quite successful. Offense (-1<stall<0) also seems more prominently represented in the elite stats than in general. Hyper Offense (stall<-1)--for all its hype--seems not to overly dominate the best-of-the-best teams (though the percentage is *slightly* higher compared to the norm).

RU Co-Leader

Okay, this really surprises me, in fact, i am shocked that a pokemon as good as fraxure is so low on the usage list, i dont get it, tbqh.

Eviolite Fraxure is relatively easy to set up thanks to its decent bulk after the boost and its mono dragon typing, this same typing in turn makes it so that the most common scarfers struggle to revenge kill the dragon. Fraxure has just enough speed to outrun Swellow at +1, which is more than enough to pull off a sweep when you have a STAB outrage coming off of 117 attack, not to mention its newfound coverage, ability to stop things like lilligant and tangrowth from stopping its sweep with sleep power by using taunt, AND the fact that it has mold breaker to get around the mighty as fuck quagsire. I really, really, really dont understand how bad RU ladder kiddies can even attempt to use something like dusknoir or scarf typhlosion over something like this, its a really good mon.

Sorry about my fraxure rant, now heres something not so serious.

| 89 | Bidoof | 1 | 0.078% | 0 | 0.000% |

lol..... sorry about that, i made a bidoof trolling team yesterday and used it on the wrong alt by mistake ._.

I really love the elite usage stats; there are so many more noobs in PS ladder than in Smogon's PO server that the top 45 usage stats is meaningful, imo. And the results certainly do not disappoint (outside of Typhlosion still showing up in the top twenties x()! Cresselia at #3 in the Elite stats speaks a lot for me, displaying the drastic influence this lunar duck has on our metagame. I believe Cress's usage is the primary reason why Scolipede is so high in usage. I'm also surprised to see Magneton ranked #12, but seeing how it can easily replace the ever so common Escavalier and the increasingly frequent Aggron and Klinklang, it makes sense.

It's shocking to see Moltres in mid-tier range rather than top-tier in the elite stats. I wonder how the current meta affected their standing?

Interesting to see this, Poli is basically the perfect partner in crime for Cressy and Durant, sponging both mons' weaknesses, absorbing Toxics/Thunder Waves and generally being a bulky motherfucker. Use him more, people!

Well Well. For halfway stats so far, so good. These stats better keep up. And it seems as though the elite stats are more reflective of the meta than the regular stats. Like this:

| 11 | Absol | 210 | 16.304% | 144 | 13.909% |

This. Just this. Glad to see that the top players of RU realize just how good Absol is in RU. Absol is one of the best Pokemon in this meta, as after a boost, he has zero hard counters. That Sucker Punch will demolish all, while Superpower and Night Slash round it all off. Perfect coverage within his vast movepool. (He even has a passable Special Attack if you wanted to use Fire Blast!). Also, one of the best Cresselia counters. Glad to see this guy used a lot. Made my day.

| 7 | Escavalier | 286 | 22.205% | 214 | 20.670% |

This is also where Esca should be. He belongs in the Top 10. He's one of the best answers to TanKing and Cresselia. Esca is powerful; that Megahorn hurts. Fits as a top RU mon. Despite what some people originally thought back in early July.

A post from June's Usage Stats:

Escavalier will go NU because the popularity oF steelix, moltres, entei, fire blast on slowking, and qwilfish just to name a few.

Click to expand...

Lol.

>implying that Esca will drop to NU.

| 3 | Cresselia | 325 | 25.233% | 262 | 25.306% |

META-DEFINING. As Predicted.

Now on to regular stats:

| 10 | Dusknoir | 3012 | 11.812% | 2569 | 12.247% |

What?.....Noir in Top 10....

| 13 | Sandslash | 2776 | 10.886% | 2378 | 11.337% |

The fact that people actually use this piece of shit in RU is beyond me. People need to realize that Sandslash is garbage.

I really love the elite usage stats; there are so many more noobs in PS ladder than in Smogon's PO server that the top 45 usage stats is meaningful, imo. And the results certainly do not disappoint (outside of Typhlosion still showing up in the top twenties x()! Cresselia at #3 in the Elite stats speaks a lot for me, displaying the drastic influence this lunar duck has on our metagame. I believe Cress's usage is the primary reason why Scolipede is so high in usage. I'm also surprised to see Magneton ranked #12, but seeing how it can easily replace the ever so common Escavalier and the increasingly frequent Aggron and Klinklang, it makes sense.

It's shocking to see Moltres in mid-tier range rather than top-tier in the elite stats. I wonder how the current meta affected their standing?

Thank you so much, Antar!

Click to expand...

Like, all of this. Also, sorry about Typhlosion, I was dropping him in some of my teams to test this and that (though I certainly didn't use him that much :P). I'm just gonna give me thoughts on a few things, 'cuz yeah.

The continued omnipresence of Smeargle, alongside multiple members of the RU team of the last round (ie.'Tops, Sceptile, Entei, Uxie, 'Queen, etc.) reinforces the fact that even with the addition of Cress to the tier, the metagame is very much offensively paced. However, with Pokemon like Poliwrath, Steelix, and more popping up is definitely a good sign for the tier, with more balanced playstyles becoming viable.

Some things in the Elite stats bother me a little though. Slowking for #2, for instance. While I'm fully aware it's a generally good Pokemon, and that it is solid in this metagame, I figured it would drop down a little in usage with the all the competition as a defensive Psychic-type it has from Cress, plus the increase in Pursuit users in response to Cress. Ah well, it's offensive sets are still really solid, so I can't complain :] 75% of Galvantula, even in Elite stats, are still Scarf :[ It's a really bad set guys, please stop using it! Omastar is also a little higher up than I expected, tbh. While it's definitely fairly potent (SS w/Lum can smash a bunch of teams), it's quite a lot more difficult to set up nowadays. Oh, and upon inspections of set stats, apparently I'm the only person using Drifblim lol. Oh, and
| 39 | Kangaskhan | 54 | 4.193% | 38 | 3.670% |
:]

NU Co-Leader

Hey, I noticed that only a mere 37.8% of Elite Kabutops use Waterfall. What the hell, man? Since when is Waterfall a bad move.

Click to expand...

It's not that Waterfall is a bad move, Kabutops just doesn't have room for it on its standard moveset. Between Rapid Spin, Swords Dance, Aqua Jet, and Stone Edge where is there room for Waterfall? If kabutops could h ave 5 moves it would run it for sure, but all of the moves it runs are pretty important

I'm kinda new to the forums, although I have stalked for a little while and played RU on and off for some time, but I love tracking the stats and I would like to say a few things about them.

Actually, before I do that, I think these Top 45 stats are great, at least compared to the nothing we had before. Players from the noobish to minimal experience range (of which I include myself) would really appreciate some form of "elite" stats to help separate the good less used 'mons from the not so good ones that are used more. I know there's a Viability Ranking Thread for that (which I think is awesome by the way; considering building a Fraxure team because of it), but I know for a while I just looked at the general usage stats and created teams from that without delving into the specific metagame forums.

Some observations about the regular stats so far, with some comparisons to "elite" usage thrown in (I love to over-analyze things, especially regarding numbers, so sorry in advance if I get carried away):

Durant and Cresselia have had the biggest increase in Usage so far this month. Not surprising, as more people realize that these guys are back their usage will become at least solid RU. If Cress gains the same percentage in the second half as she did this half (given how much the top players are using her, it's definitely not out of the question), she could crack Top 30 by the end of the month. Durant is moving a tad slower, though his relative usage has more than tripled. Being used by significantly less "elite" players, he probably won't move as high, though trends will at least have him beating Muchlax.

A big mover that really surprised me so far is Magmortar, whose usage is currently sitting at 2.2% higher than it was at the end of October. Perhaps even more peculiar is that he's currently being used by just over 1% of the "elite" teams. Quite a gap, especially considering he's made Moltres the number 3 Fire-type in RU based on usage. He's definitely not better than Moltres from my experience, but I don't think he's quite as bad as the "elite" usage indicates.

As for fallers, the huge one is Uxie, sitting nearly 4% below its usage in October. I guess it's kind of expected with the new drop downs, Durant destroying it while Cresselia outclasses it in roles it might have had before. Still good for RU imo, and still used by quite a few "elite" players, so if I had to hazard a guess it probably won't be falling quite as much in the second half.

The other major faller is Hitmonlee, falling about 2.5% from last month. I remember a lot of people complaining about how bad Hitmonlee was and how he should be used less (of which I would agree) when the October stats were posted, so I expect this will make a lot of people happy. He could feasibly fall below my projected Cress placement by the end of the month if both their trends continue, which would lead to more rejoicing.

Well, there's my stuff so far, I'll probably give out less fluff and more numbers when the full month's stats come out (depending of course on the reactions to this post). Sure will be interesting to see how high Cresselia and Durant usage climbs these next couple weeks.

Probably not. Unless I can get on the ladder and tell everyone using Sandslash to get a Cryo or 'Tops, then Sandslash will continue to get high usage. Honestly, it's a piece of shit and it's doing nothing to help the tier. It needs tp trade places in the tiering with Ludicolo then it'll be fine.

l 17 l Drapion l 2559 l 10.035% l 2123 l 10.121 l

I'm happy Drapion is in the top 20 the SD version is awesome in the current meta and a good answer to cress-he's also my favorite RU poke

Heh. I never knew Drapion was THAT good. I honestly prefer a different Poke for my Dark-type needs, but whatever.

| 174 | Metang | 45 | 0.176% | 44 | 0.210% l

we finally got rid of this!

We got rid of this thing a short while ago. Nonetheless, it's good riddance, because Metang is complete shit and should never be considered for a serious competitive match. Now, we just have to get rid of Sandslash and Electivire from the tier and we have no dead weight mons in the tier.

I'm kinda new to the forums, although I have stalked for a little while and played RU on and off for some time, but I love tracking the stats and I would like to say a few things about them.

Actually, before I do that, I think these Top 45 stats are great, at least compared to the nothing we had before. Players from the noobish to minimal experience range (of which I include myself) would really appreciate some form of "elite" stats to help separate the good less used 'mons from the not so good ones that are used more. I know there's a Viability Ranking Thread for that (which I think is awesome by the way; considering building a Fraxure team because of it), but I know for a while I just looked at the general usage stats and created teams from that without delving into the specific metagame forums.

Some observations about the regular stats so far, with some comparisons to "elite" usage thrown in (I love to over-analyze things, especially regarding numbers, so sorry in advance if I get carried away):

Durant and Cresselia have had the biggest increase in Usage so far this month. Not surprising, as more people realize that these guys are back their usage will become at least solid RU. If Cress gains the same percentage in the second half as she did this half (given how much the top players are using her, it's definitely not out of the question), she could crack Top 30 by the end of the month. Durant is moving a tad slower, though his relative usage has more than tripled. Being used by significantly less "elite" players, he probably won't move as high, though trends will at least have him beating Muchlax.

It's nice to see that. Cress and Durant will have a nice place in the RU tier. These two will get decent usage in RU. By the next tier shift, Cress will most likely be in the Top 5 in usage, while Durant may break into 38th place at worst.

A big mover that really surprised me so far is Magmortar, whose usage is currently sitting at 2.2% higher than it was at the end of October. Perhaps even more peculiar is that he's currently being used by just over 1% of the "elite" teams. Quite a gap, especially considering he's made Moltres the number 3 Fire-type in RU based on usage. He's definitely not better than Moltres from my experience, but I don't think he's quite as bad as the "elite" usage indicates.

I actually find Magmortar to be a great Pokemon. While not as good as Moltres, his awesome coverage is something to watch out for. Although somewhat inferior to Moltres, he has Vital Spirit to not fall for Lilligant's Sleep Powder. I'm not surprised, since Magmortar is a force to reckon with in RU.

As for fallers, the huge one is Uxie, sitting nearly 4% below its usage in October. I guess it's kind of expected with the new drop downs, Durant destroying it while Cresselia outclasses it in roles it might have had before. Still good for RU imo, and still used by quite a few "elite" players, so if I had to hazard a guess it probably won't be falling quite as much in the second half.

Uxie has taken a nice dip in usage as predicted, after all. Uxie is not even that good from my experiece. Luckily, he still has his advantages over Cress in U-Turn and Stealth Rock. (And Memento, too!)

The other major faller is Hitmonlee, falling about 2.5% from last month. I remember a lot of people complaining about how bad Hitmonlee was and how he should be used less (of which I would agree) when the October stats were posted, so I expect this will make a lot of people happy. He could feasibly fall below my projected Cress placement by the end of the month if both their trends continue, which would lead to more rejoicing.

Hitmonlee was beyond overhyped. Gallade is a stronger Fighting-type in the tier, and Cryogonal and Kabutops are better spinners. This will make many people happy. Hitmonlee is good, but its fall in usage was deserved. So it's good.

Well, there's my stuff so far, I'll probably give out less fluff and more numbers when the full month's stats come out (depending of course on the reactions to this post). Sure will be interesting to see how high Cresselia and Durant usage climbs these next couple weeks.

Don't have much to say on the specific stats. Though I am glad to see that Sceptile isn't that prominent in the top 45. Don't know why it's being used so much by the masses Nidoqueen, my queen still staying up high!

Anyways I think these elite stats are really cool. It allows a much more detailed and better analysis of the RU metagame. The real thing that makes me love these elite stats are the top 45 it really gives an accurate description of the best pokemon being used and how. It's not a to small group but not to large either where you see a large amount of that one pokemon being used by everyone you know.

I'm seriously disappointed that Manectric has such low usage. It's not like it's worse than Galvantula at all; in fact, Manectric has Fire-type coverage, more Sp. Attack and Switcheroo to troll walls. Granted, Bug-type STAB has its pros and cons (moreover, it's supereffective against Cressie), but Galvantula is SR weak, granting it less switch-ins.

| 27 | Crawdaunt | 2295 | 9.000% | 1793 | 8.548% |

I'm definitely happy to see Crawdaunt right here; its STABs make it a very good Pokémon to fight off the higher-ranked ones, including all the countless Fire-types and Cresselia.